Republican lawmakers on Wednesday put new pressure on President Biden to actively support Afghan resistance fighters who have promised to never surrender to the Islamist Taliban.
With some regional analysts stressing that the well-organized movement should not be taken lightly as a threat to outright Taliban rule, prominent GOP figures say the Biden administration owes it to Afghanistan to do whatever it can to help the fledgling resistance army, headquartered north of Kabul in the naturally fortified Panjshir valley.
The new push on Mr. Biden comes as the administration frantically tries to evacuate as many Americans and Afghan allies as possible before the president’s self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline, which he has refused to adjust despite real doubt that the mission can be completed by then.
Critics say the U.S. withdrawal plan has been a disaster, but if Mr. Biden insists on sticking with it, the U.S. must at least offer concrete help to the Afghan resistance.
“We should have never withdrawn from Afghanistan in the first place, and our decision to do so has handed control of the country over to the Taliban,” Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming Republican, said in a statement to The Washington Times. “While the best thing for America’s interests would have been maintaining a ground force in the country to conduct counterterrorism operations and support the legitimate Afghan government, the least we can do now is support the resistance effort in any and all ways as they combat the Taliban’s treacherous regime.”
The resistance movement, which some specialists estimate could number as high as 10,000 soldiers, is led by Amrullah Saleh, the former vice president of Afghanistan. The other key figure is Ahmad Massoud, whose father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, fought the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s and later joined the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.
The resistance leaders have expressed openness to forming an inclusive government that includes the Taliban but have vowed to never surrender to their enemies.
“I would prefer to die than to surrender,” Mr. Massoud said in an interview this week, according to al Jazeera. “I’m the son of Ahmad Shah Massoud. Surrender is not a word in my vocabulary.”
In addition to potentially providing arms, equipment, air support and other logistical aid to the resistance fighters, the Biden administration could formally recognize Mr. Saleh as the legitimate president of Afghanistan, analysts say.
Mr. Saleh served as the nation’s vice president until then-President Ashraf Ghani fled Kabul this month as the Taliban closed in.
Such a move by Washington would pave the way for the U.S. and other nations to free up frozen Afghan bank accounts and provide a financial lifeline to the resistance movement.
Inside Afghanistan, specialists say there is deep-rooted support for the resistance leaders.
“Don’t underestimate the Panjshir forces. Driving around Kabul and farther afield, one thing which became apparent over the years is that the cult of Ahmad Shah Masoud was gaining popularity,” said former Defense Department official Michael Rubin, now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute who studies Afghanistan extensively.
“The real fight has only just begun and will emerge from the Panjshir,” Mr. Rubin told The Times. “If Biden were more in charge and put country above ego, he might recognize that the Panjshir resistance is a gift which the U.S. could latch onto to roll back the Taliban and undo the worst of the damage that now looms above Afghanistan.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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